His Sister!
by Breezi
Summary: Just your average, everyday, run of the mill boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy has to get past girl's protective older brother type story... only in this case the boy is Sunshine. What more could you want?
1. PrologueBertier

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters from _Remember the Titans, _I just borrowed them for a little while. This story has nothing to do with the movie, save a similarity in football plot line. I do not know any of the actual people and if by some chance this story causes some offense, I sincerely apologize. I do however own Kelly, and whatever other random people I actually make up along the way of telling my twisted version of fictional events_._ ****

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**Personal Note:** This is my first fan fiction and constructive criticism and/or pleasant comments are always appreciated. I really like to know what people think of my work, so please send me some feedback. That said, I hope you enjoy my story. 

Prologue 

The year was 1971 and T. C. Williams high school in Alexandria, Virginia had just been forced to integrate by the school board. As expected, that didn't sit too well with most of the folks around, but what really got the town riled up was when the announcement was made that there would be a new head coach. Yeah, it steamed people that Coach Bill Yoast was being replaced, sure. But what really steamed them was that he was being replaced by a colored man by the name of Herman Boone. 

Despite some difficulties in the beginning, Boone managed to have the boys playing like a team by the end of football camp. Hell, they even became friends. But, camp ended. They had to make the journey back to the real world where people were still very much up in arms about the blacks and whites going to school together. 

But, in the middle of all the racial diversity, there is one more problem that the mighty Titans will encounter along their road to heroism. 

Chapter One: Bertier 

Ronnie Bass walked through the throng of people standing outside of the T. C. Williams high school with signs, protesting the integration. As calls of 'hippie boy' and 'we don't want your kind here either, fruitcake' rang out, he just stiffened his shoulders and let the taunts roll right off his back. He finally made his way into the building, but stood confused in front of the office, staring at his schedule. He had no idea where any of his classes were. 

"Are you lost?" A light voice asked from behind him. Ronnie spun around to see a petite little strawberry blonde smiling at him. "You're new." She stated. 

Ronnie laughed, "That obvious, huh?" 

"Just a bit." She said, smirking. "Here, let me see your schedule." 

Ronnie handed her the piece of paper, which she looked over carefully. "Uh, I'm Ronnie Bass." 

Her silver blue eyes raised from the paper, "I'm Kelly Bertier." 

"Bertier?" Ronnie exclaimed. 

She looked up with her entire, pretty face this time. "Yeah?" She laughed. "What is it?" 

"Oh, uh," Ronnie said, "nothing. Just making sure I heard you right." 

"Okay." She nodded, still smirking. She slapped him in the chest with his schedule. "Well, you're in luck Ronnie Bass. You're first class is right by mine. I'll show you the way." 

Ronnie kept sneaking glances at her out of the corner of his eye. She was so cute and little. Maybe it was just a coincidence about the last name. Maybe there was no relation at all between her a Gerry. It was a really big school after all. 

"This is you." She said finally, pausing for a moment in front of a door, then walking on. 

"Uh, where are you?" He called, a little too eagerly. 

She spun around, walking backwards, "Have a nice day, Ronnie Bass." 

"Ah, come on." Ronnie pleaded. 

"You'll see me around. I swear." She smiled and then spun again so she was walking forward. 

After his first class, Ronnie followed a string a students into the hall, where his eyes automatically found that shiny strawberry hair. He quickened his pace to catch up with her, then ducked behind some lockers when he saw who she was walking toward. 

Kelly stopped in front of Gerry Bertier and smiled warmly. 

"Hey, Kel!" He said, "There's someone I want you to meet." A tall handsome dark skinned boy walked up behind Gerry. "This is Julius Campell. Julius, this is my baby sister, Kelly." 

"So you're the famous Julius?" Kelly grinned. "Gerry has talked about nothing else. It's great to finally have a face to go with the name." She winked at him, "Not a bad looking face either, if I do say so myself." 

"So you're the miniature Bertier, huh? So," Julius said, "are you a football gal?" 

"Runs in the genes." Kelly said, casting a 'what can you do' shrug. 

"Yeah," Julius laughed, "but I bet you look better in those jeans than Gerry here." 

"Hey now!" Gerry warned. 

"Nah, nah, seriously though. You're my brother's sister, you're my sister." Julius said, "Come here and give me a hug." He engulfed Kelly in his arms and lifted her off her feet. "You need anything," he said once he had set her back on her feet, "you ask big brother Julius." 

Kelly grinned, "Thank you." 

"All right, all right, enough of this mushy stuff." Gerry interjected, "Me and Julius gotta get to class." 

They began swapping licks as they walked away, laughing. "Let's go, Superman. Show me something!" 

"Is that all you got, Campell? Where the hell is that soul power? You got more than that!" 

Kelly laughed and turned to walk down the opposite hall. 

Ronnie stood, leaning against the wall. She was Bertier's sister. He could see how well that one would go over with Gerry. Him being interested in his sister. The beginning of the year was turning out to be just perfect. He shoved away from the wall and headed for his next class, determined to push all thoughts of Kelly out of his mind. 

At lunchtime, Ronnie walked into the cafeteria without much care. He had been confident in his resolution to drop any thought of Kelly and the idea seemed to work for him. He flashed a bright smile at a couple of female admirers that he spotted and they giggled and turned to each other to discuss him. He laughed to himself and started walking past the cafeteria tables. 

"Hello, Mr. Bass." Said that sweet light airy voice that made Ronnie freeze in his tracks. He turned slowly and looked down. Kelly smiled up at him from her seat at the table, surrounded by other girls who gawked at him with wide eyes and open mouths, not unlike the way he was gawking at Kelly. "Care to join us?" She asked. 

He knew his plan was to avoid her, but it would be rude to turn down such a nice invitation. "Sure." He said and slid onto the bench beside her. 

He looked straight into her eyes and Kelly thought she might faint. He had such pretty blue eyes. He was just good looking all around. She had the sudden desire to twist her fingers up into those golden locks of his. He seemed a bit jittery though, almost nervous. He kept looking over his shoulder as if afraid someone was trying to sneak up on him. 

"Should we be expecting a surprise attack?" Kelly asked him. 

"Huh, what?" Ronnie asked, tuning back into reality and tuning out his little paranoid space out. 

"Who are you watching for?" She laughed. 

"Oh! No one. It's just..." He looked at her cute little face, "it's a long story. Let's not get into it right now. Tell me about you." 

"AWWW!" Came a choral coo from across the table. Ronnie glanced over at the three girls who were staring at them. 

"Uh, you wanna take a walk?" Kelly said. 

Ronnie began nodding his head, "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." 

The two exited the cafeteria and headed for the courtyard. "So," Ronnie said, "tell me about you." 

"What do you want to know?" 

"Anything. Everything!" Ronnie said, "Tell me the first thing that pops into your head." Kelly paused. "No! No thinking. Thinking is not allowed. I want you to spit out the first thought that comes to your mind." 

"The first thing?" She asked. 

"The first thing." Ronnie said, looking her in the eyes. 

"You have pretty eyes." She said, and immediately began blushing. 

Ronnie felt himself physically straighten. He had not been expecting that. His mouth opened and closed several times before Kelly bailed him out by speaking. 

"Don't worry, Ronnie. I'm not coming on to you. I just think you have pretty eyes." She said flashing him a half smile that looked almost frighteningly like Gerry's. "Now, come on, hippie boy, and tell me where you're from." 

Ronnie couldn't help but laugh. His laughter hid his disappointment. She wasn't coming on to him. That kind of sucked, but in a way it was a relief. He wouldn't have to walk up to his team captain and say, 'Hey, do you care if I ask your sister to the hill?' 

Kelly skipped all the way out to the parking lot, all the way to Gerry's Camaro. Gerry and Julius were leaning against it casually, eyebrows going up when they saw her. 

"What are you so damned happy about?" Gerry called. 

Kelly shrugged. "Nothing." 

"Uh-oh." Julius said, "It's a guy, man." 

"Huh?" Gerry exclaimed. 

"Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely a guy. Look at that grin." Julius said, pinching Kelly's right cheek. "So come on, mini Bertier, who is he?" 

"Just this guy that I met." She said. 

Gerry straightened. "Kelly, sis, I want a name." 

"You are not gonna harass him!" Kelly stated, her smile dropping to a stern look. 

"I won't harass him. I just..." Gerry was struggling, "help me out here, Jules." 

"We just need to know who's mingling with our little sister." Julius said. 

Kelly looked at them both skeptically, then gave in. "Fine. His name is," she couldn't help but smile when she said his name. "Ronnie Bass." 

"Sunshine!" Julius and Gerry said in unison. 

"Sunshine?" Kelly asked, confused. 

"Yeah, Sunshine." Gerry said as he began pacing. Julius was struggling not to laugh. "He's a teammate." 

"He didn't say anything about football." Kelly said. 

"No." Gerry said, "No. I forbid it. You cannot like Sunshine." 

"I beg your pardon sir, I can." Kelly said firmly. "I can like whoever the hell I choose to like." 

"She has a point." Julius said. 

"Yes. She can like anyone she wants to like," Gerry said, "just not Sunshine." 

"What is so wrong with Ronnie... or Sunshine or whatever the hell you call him?" Kelly demanded. 

"I'm just gonna say it." Gerry said to Julius, who just started laughing. "He kissed me." 

"What?" Kelly asked, not sure she heard her brother right. 

"Sunshine kissed me." 

Kelly wasn't sure of how exactly to swallow that little bit of information. 


	2. You Kissed My Brother!

**Personal Note:** Well, here's chapter two. Hope you like it and let me know if you do. :) 

Chapter Two: You Kissed My Brother! 

"So," Julius said as he pulled his shoulder pads over his head, "why don't you tell me the real reason you don't want Kel liking ol' Sunshine?" 

Gerry quickly turned to face him, "I don't know what you're talking about." His eyes traveled over to where Sunshine was lacing up his football pants. 

"Sure, man." Julius laughed, "Look, I know that it ain't got nothing to do with him kissing you at camp, cause you know just as well as everybody that he was just messin' with you. So, I ask again, what is your problem with Sunshine?" 

Gerry watched Sunshine push his way out of the locker room carrying his shoulder pads. As soon as he was out, he turned back to Julius. "All right, you want to know why I don't want Kel to start liking Sunshine too much? I'll tell you why. When were on our way to the locker room, Sunshine was a little ways ahead of us." 

"Yeah?" Julius said, not quite sure where this was going. 

"Did you happen to notice how every single girl he passed stared at him, then started giggling and whispering to each other?" Gerry said. 

Julius was still confused, "So?" 

"So," Gerry explained, "if every single girl wants a piece of Sunshine, I don't want my baby sister to get her heart set on him and then have it broken if he chooses another girl, or five other girls." 

Julius laughed and, shaking his head, stood up. "Come on, man. We gotta hit the field for practice." 

"I'm serious, Jules," Gerry said, following his friend out of the locker room, "from what I saw, he could end up with half the school before the year is out!" 

"He is so cute." One girl cooed. 

Her friend giggled, "Look at his arms." 

"I love his hair." A third girl added. 

Sunshine stood in the courtyard of the school Tuesday morning, practicing his tai chi. Each move was smooth, fluent, and graceful. He performed every transition with ease, making it all look so effortless. Few people would have guessed how much discipline it all took, the amount of concentration. 

"Looks like you have a fan club." He heard Kelly say from behind him. 

Ronnie turned and looked at her, "Huh?" He asked. Kelly smiled and gestured toward a second floor window. Ronnie looked up to see about five girls standing with their noses pushed up against the glass, staring at him. He laughed and turned back to Kelly, "What can I say?" 

"I don't know, Sunshine." She said, an inquisitive smirk crossing her lips, "What can you say?" 

Ronnie felt himself stop breathing when he heard the nickname. He braced his hands on his hips and looked up at the sky and let out a sigh, before looking back to her and laughing without any real humor in his voice. "Right now, I don't know if anything I say would be very wise." 

Kelly smiled, "So, you're a football player? You couldn;t have mentioned that to me yesterday when we were talking?" 

"It didn't come up." Sunshine said, not sure if he was lying or not. 

Kelly crossed her arms and leaned against a nearby tree, "So, the fact that I'm the team captain's sister had nothing to do with it?" 

Sunshine furrowed his brow, "Maybe a very small, tiny bit." He held up his thumb and forefinger for emphasis. 

"Uh-huh." Kelly said triumphantly, nodding her head, "You know, Sunshine, cute nickname by the way, you could have told me. I mean, just because my brother is you teammate doesn't mean that we can't be friends." Even as she said the word 'friends' she felt her stomach tighten. 

"Okay," Sunshine laughed, his blond hair falling in front of his eyes as he nodded his head, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. So, we're cool now?" 

"Well, there is one more thing." Kelly said. 

"And what is that?" Sunshine asked. 

Kelly straightened away from the three and asked, "Did you really kiss my brother?" 

Sunshine couldn't control the burst of laughter that erupted from his throat. His shoulders shook violently as he struggled to get it under control. "He told you about that, huh?" 

"So, it's true?" She exclaimed, "You kissed my brother!" 

"Calm down," Sunshine said, still laughing. "Did he tell you the whole story?" Kelly shook her head. "Well, when I first got to camp, my hair was a lot longer than it is now, he called me a fruitcake. So, in the locker room the next day, I had to play with him a little, so, I told him that he was what I wanted and kissed him. I'm sure he forgot to mention that when he came after me for it, I knocked his ass on the ground. Everybody understood that it was just a gag for the whole fruitcake thing, but, the looks on their faces at the time, especially Gerry's, it was great." 

"I can't believe you did that!" Kelly laughed, "Oh, my God. I would have paid to see that. And you're still on speaking terms with him?" 

"Yeah, after camp I made sure that we were still cool and he said yeah." 

"Wow." Kelly said, "He's such a dork." 

They both turned and started walking toward the school together, carrying on conversation as they went. "So, how did you get Sunshine?" 

"That would be Petey's doing..." Sunshine said and told her that story. 

On Thursday, Sunshine waited outside of Kelly's class for her. When she emerged, he swept her immediately to the side of the hallway to talk to her. "Are you coming to the game tomorrow night?" He asked, "It's our first one." 

"Like I have a choice! Do you remember who my brother is?" She laughed, "No, seriously though, I'm a huge football fan. Of course I'll be there. Think you'll play?" 

"Don't know. It's doubtful though. I'm just the backup Q B." 

"Oh," Kelly cooed in a baby voice and tasseled his hair, "is little Sunshine feeling sorry for himself?" 

"Now you're gonna get it." Sunshine responded. 

"Oh, am I? Who's gonna give it to me? You?" Kelly said just before she took off running down the hall. 

Without a word, Sunshine took off in a dead sprint after her. 

The first game ended with the Titans winning, of course. Ronnie didn't get to play, but Kelly thought he looked damn fine sitting on the bench. She waited for him outside the lock room. Gerry and Julius came out first. 

"Hey, Kel!" Gerry called and ran up to her. He caught her in a bear hug and spun her around. "So, what did you think of your big brother?" He asked when he finally set her back on her feet. 

"I think," Kelly said, trying not to laugh, "you played like a wimp." Gerry feigned a hurt expression. "Just kidding, you big oaf. You did great!" 

"I know." Gerry said, looking all too pleased with himself. 

"Now, now, now," Julius interrupted, "let's take a moment to discuss the real star of the game." 

"Yeah," a voice came from somewhere behind them. They turned to see Petey walking toward them, carrying a football in his hand, "me!" He strutted over to them and took Kelly's hand and placed a firm kiss on it. "Gentlemen, isn't someone going to introduce me to this pretty woman?" 

Gerry and Julius shared a look. "Sure," Julius said, "Petey Jones, meet Kelly Bertier." 

"My sister." Gerry added sternly. 

As soon as the words left Gerry's mouth, Petey released Kelly's hand. "As I was saying," he struggled, "pretty woman. Way out of my league pretty. I shouldn't even be allowed to look at her she's so pretty." 

Julius burst into a fit of laughter along with Gerry and Kelly. "Don't worry, Petey. He isn't gonna kill you for talking to me." Kelly said. 

"Hey, guys, look," Gerry said, "there's Alan. He looks down. Let's go see if we can help at all. Kel, wait here and you can go out and celebrate with us, kay?" 

Kelly nodded and the three guys went to cheer their downcast teammate. They hadn't been gone thirty seconds when Ray Budds was at her side. 

"Hey, Kelly." He said, "Wow, you sure grew up over the summer." 

"Yes," Kelly replied jokingly, "no longer the gangly, awkward fifteen year old, but the sophisticated, mature sixteen year old." 

Ray laughed along with her. "You look great. I feel like I haven't seen you in ages. You should come out and party with us tonight." 

"Well," Kelly said, "I'll be around with Gerry. Maybe we'll see out in town." 

"Why don't you come with me, now? We'll meet up with Gerry later." Ray offered. 

"Nah." Kelly said, "You go ahead, I'll see you later. I want to wait and say hi to Sunshine." 

Kelly didn't quite understand the look that passed over Ray's face, but in an instant it was back to the bright happy look that was there before. As soon as Sunshine emerged from the locker room, his eyes locked onto where Kelly stood talking to Ray. Her face was bright and smiling and Sunshine felt a harsh stab of jealousy deep in the pit of his stomach. He quickened his pace to get to them. All he caught was the last exchange in their conversation. 

"Okay. I'll see you out in town, then." Ray said. 

"Yeah." Kelly added. 

Ray turned away from her, making eye contact with Sunshine for a brief second, then walked off toward the parking lot. 

"Kelly?" Sunshine said, getting her attention. 

Kelly turned to him, "Hey!" She exclaimed, "Congratulations on your first win!" 

"What congratulations for me? I didn't do anything but sit on the bench." Sunshine laughed. "I know, but you did it so well." Kelly laughed, and then threw herself into his arms. 

Gerry turned just in time to see Sunshine wrapping his arms around his little sister. Julius turned and saw the same thing and knew immediately what was going on in his friend's head. 

"Man, calm down." He said, putting his hand on Gerry's shoulder. "They're just friends. Friends hug." 

"I just don't want her getting hurt." Gerry said. 

"I know." Julius said, "But, like I said, they're just friends." 

Sunshine and Kelly separated and started walking toward the other guys. They were halfway there when Kelly leapt onto Sunshine's back for a piggyback ride. Sunshine locked his arms under her legs as they joined the group. 

"So, how are we partying tonight?" He asked, casting a quick nervous glance at Gerry. 

Gerry looked to Julius, who signaled for him to calm down, before rejoining the conversation. He just didn't understand. There was a group of three or four girls on either side of them, and every single one of them had thrown a dirty look in Kelly's direction as soon as she started talking to Sunshine. It was a lose lose situation. Gerry just didn't see a happy ending in this for his baby sister. 


	3. I'm Fine, Really

**Author's note:** Due to a helpful suggestion made by a fellow author, whose story I recommend to all, (you can see who I'm talking about on the review page), whenever you see * * * * going all the way across the page, it signifies a large lapse in time, as in a day or more. 

**Personal note:** Thank you for your reviews, I hope more come in soon. I do love to know what people think of my story, good or bad, though I confess I tend to enjoy the good ones more than the bad. So, here's my latest chapter. Be sure to let me know what you think. 

Chapter Three: I'm Fine, Really 

It was a sight to behold. Petey strutted down the sidewalk, a grin from ear to ear and holding up his game ball every chance he got. Sunshine walked by his side with Blue and Rev on their heels. Gerry and Julius were a few steps back, laughing at their fellow teammates' showboating. Kelly had started off at the front of the line with Ronnie, but she had hung back when she noticed how depressed Alan was. He was feeling low because he couldn't keep up with his designated man on the field, and Yoast had pulled him and put Petey, who was now carrying the game ball, in in his place. A move which would later get Yoast in trouble with Alan's father, and with Boone. Despite how pleased he was with Petey's performance, Boone had just taken Petey out for fumbling, and felt that Yoast was undermining his authority with the move. Alan had taken it hard. He hadn't said more than two words the entire night, and Kelly just wanted to cheer him up a little. So, the two of them, locked arm in arm, were bringing up the rear of the group. 

"Don't be upset, Alan." She said, "You said it yourself, the guy was just too fast. It doesn't mean that you're not a great player." She dropped her head on his shoulder, "Besides, you're the dreamiest guy on the team." The comment earned her a momentary smile from him. "Oh, my God! You can smile! I have to call the newspaper." 

"Well," Alan said, "when you do, be sure and tell them that thing about me being the dreamiest one on the team. Oh, and be sure to throw in how I also have to best singing voice." 

"He speaks!" Kelly exclaimed, raising her eyebrows in a joking manner. She gave his arm an encouraging squeeze and won herself another smile. 

Julius and Gerry dropped back by their sides, giving Alan a clear view of Petey and the others. Petey was just inviting a group of passing girls to come and 'party with the Titans' star football player,' causing Alan's smile to fade almost immediately. 

"Look at these guys!" Gerry laughed, then noticed Alan's expression. Julius shot him a nice going look and Gerry tried to rectify his mistake, "Don't even worry about it, Alan. They just like to show off." 

"They?" Julius said, stopping. "You said 'they'." 

Alan, Kelly, and Gerry stopped as well. "Yes, they." Gerry said, "As in them, up there." 

Kelly smiled at Alan, "I am not getting into this one." She said, kissing him quick on the cheek and trotting off to join the other guys. 

Sunshine had stopped at a door and was about to walk in. "Come on, guys. It's on me." 

Petey looked up at the sign, then back at Sunshine. "Uh, no, man. Come on, we'll just keep goin'." 

Kelly popped up at their sides. "Why are we stopping?" She asked. 

Petey grinned at her, "Okay, now, as the new dominating Titan, I believe that the prettiest lady around should be on my arm." He said, moving to put his arm around her. 

"Petey!" Gerry's voice suddenly came, causing Petey to jerk his arm away immediately. 

"What are you doing, girl?" He exclaimed, "Gerry, man, I didn't touch her!" 

Gerry had already returned to his discussion with Juilius and was paying Petey no mind, when a car pulled up, distracting him. 

"Look, Sunshine," Petey began, "this is Virginia and some folks have a problem with..." 

"Man, they don't want us in there." Blue finished for Petey. 

"That's in the past." Sunshine said. 

"Kelly!" A voice called. 

Kelly turned and saw Ray in the passenger seat of a car. He motioned for her to come and talk to him. "Who's that girl with Gerry?" Sunshine asked. 

Gerry was leaned over, talking to the girl sitting in the car behind Ray. "Oh, that's Emma, Gerry's girlfriend. Look, you guys go on in. I'll be back in a second." Kelly informed before she walked over to the car. "Hey, Emma." She said. 

"Hey, sweetie." Emma smiled before looking back to Gerry, her expression going cold. 

Kelly noticed the change. She glanced at Gerry and noticed that he didn't look very happy either. "Hey, Ray." She said, "what's going on?" 

"We're headed up to the hill. Want to come?" He asked. 

"Oh, no. I promised the boys that I would hang out with them tonight. It would be rude of me to ditch them now." She said, smiling. 

"Seems to me like you need to get your priorities straight." She heard Emma say. 

"Kelly," Ray said softly, "you don't have to stoop down to hanging with a bunch of..." 

"A bunch of what, Ray?" Kelly interrupted, feeling her face flush with anger. 

Ray exhaled loudly, "You're better than that." 

Kelly glanced over her shoulder. Gerry had already retreated back to the sidewalk and was standing beside Julius, shaking his head and saying something. Kelly looked back at Ray. Her mind was spinning. How could someone you had known for almost your entire life turn out to be so closed minded, and you not even notice? She started backing away from the car, her face drawn into a scowl. As the car slowly pulled away, she saw how hurt Emma looked, and pissed Ray was. 

The door that the others had gone into a moment before burst open and Petey came out, screaming. He was followed closely by the other guys. 

"Man!" Petey screamed, "Why did you make us go in there?" 

"I didn't know, man." Sunshine said, "I'm sorry." 

"You pull something like that, you better be able to back it up!" 

"Calm down." Blue said. 

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Petey snarled. 

"What just happened?" Kelly asked as she came running up. 

"Sunshine talked us into going into this restaurant and the guy at the counter kicked us out because he doesn't serve blacks. He told us we could go around back to the kitchen if we wanted to eat. Petey's just taking it a little hard." Rev told her as he pulled her off to the side, away from the argument. 

"I'm sorry," Sunshine said, "I really didn't know." 

"I told you!" Petey screamed. 

Kelly tore away from Rev and hurried to Sunshine's side. "Petey," she said. 

"Not now, Kelly." Petey said. 

"Man, calm..." Blue started. 

Petey threw him the dirtiest look Kelly had ever seen, "Man, if you tell me to calm down one more time." 

"Petey, he didn't know." Kelly pleaded. 

"No! No, he don't want to know, Kelly." Petey said, "I told him. Man, forget it. Let's go ya'll." He turned his back to Sunshine. 

"Petey?" Sunshine said. 

"Just give him a little bit." Blue said to him before turning and hurrying after Petey, muttering wildly about Petey being irrational and how you can't even talk to him. 

"It'll be all right." Rev said, patting Sunshine on the shoulder and kissing Kelly on the cheek, as he passed them by. "Come on, man." He said to Julius, who gave an apologetic look to Gerry before falling into step behind Rev. 

Sunshine stared after them. He had this helpless look on his face, and Kelly wanted so very much to comfort him. She touched his forearm, only to have him pull away and take off walking down the opposite direction. Alan followed after him. Kelly watched them walk away, the inescapable feeling of hurt washing over her. She felt Gerry's arm drape heavily over her shoulders as her big brother pulled her to his side. 

"Come on, kid," He said, planting a kiss in her hair, "let's go home." 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Monday morning, Kelly climbed the steps to the second level of the school. She was skipping her first class to go to the library to study for a test she had in fifth period, Chemistry. As she passed the ever-present gaggle of girls who stood, drooling by the window, gawking at Ronnie as he did his morning tai chi, she couldn't help but roll her eyes as one squealed over and over about how 'dreamy' he was. She swore to herself right then and there that if Sunshine ever ended up with one of those girls, she would kill him herself to put him out of his misery. 

She sat quietly at a table in the library, making notes from various books that she had spread around her. She heard set their books down, and then Rev sat down across from her. "How are you doing, today, peaches?" He whispered. 

Kelly felt herself smile. "I'm good. How are you, Rev?" 

"Oh, I'm fine." He said, "I'm just ready for all this craziness to be over. People just won't get over it. I mean, it's been a few weeks since we started class and people are still outside protesting." 

"It's ridiculous." Kelly said. "I don't see how they can think that way. How can someone hate someone they don't even know because of their skin color? That would be like me hating Cynthia Deller because her hair is brown." 

Rev offered her a sympathetic smile. "Not everyone in the world thinks like you, Kel." 

"Well, they should." Kelly stated. 

Rev chuckled, "That's life." 

"Okay," Kelly retorted, "I think I'd like to take option number two then, please." 

Rev laughed out loud at the remark, winning them both a nasty stare from the librarian who shushed them immediately. 

"Oh, shush yourself." Kelly said under her breath. 

"Ah, and the claws come out!" Rev whispered, "Little Bertier has herself some soul power." 

"Nah," Kelly giggled, "just a low tolerance for snooty authoritarian types." 

Rev's shoulders began to shake as he held in his laughter. 

Somewhere around an hour later, Rev and Kelly emerged from the library in time to see Gerry trying to break up a fight between a group of whites and blacks. When he tried to pull a guy off of another, he was jumped by a group of black boys who thought that he was joining in. Julius immediately came to his rescue, pulling them away from Gerry and shoving them against a wall. This left Gerry free to pull the white boy to his side of the hallway. All their effort proved to do nothing more than earn them some racist remarks from both sides. 

"This is insane." Kelly said. 

Rev nodded, "Amen to that, sister." 

They later learned that the fight had started because some meat head had gotten mad at none other than Petey for talking to his girl. Petey, being Petey, had shot off his mouth and so on and so on. Kelly had to admit that she found it funny, telling Petey that she knew his big mouth would eventually get him into trouble. 

Petey had taken offense, saying, "Yeah, well, you just lost your chance at ever dating me, baby doll." 

Kelly, was by that point, almost crying she was laughing so hard. "Oh, my heart is breaking. How ever will I survive?" 

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up now, while you have the chance." Petey said as he opened the cafeteria door for her, "Cause here soon, I'm gonna be fightin' 'em off with a stick." 

"Well, you'd better be careful then." Kelly said, walking through the door. 

"That's right." Petey said, smiling, pleased with himself. 

"Yeah," Blue said as he entered the cafeteria behind Kelly, "dogs got teeth, man." 

"Sharp ones." Alan added. 

Petey's smile fell. "Ha ha, very funny, ya'll." 

Kelly sat, pushing her mashed potatoes around her trey with her fork. Rev had just vacated the seat across from her when Sunshine slid into it. "Hey!" He exclaimed. 

"Hey." Kelly smiled, "How are you?" 

""I'm good." He grinned. 

"You and Petey kiss and make up?" She asked in a baby voice. She had seen them joking around outside of one of their classes earlier that afternoon. 

"Yeah," Sunshine laughed, "he just requires a delicate touch." 

"I'm sure." Kelly said sarcastically. 

"Anyway," Ronnie changed the subject, "can I talk to you about something?" 

"Course." Kelly said. 

"Well," he was visibly uncomfortable, "I couldn't talk to the guys about this, because I would never hear the end of it, but..." 

"Quit stalling, Sunshine." Kelly demanded. 

"Well, there's this cute little cheerleader," he said, "her name is Christi, uh, Christi Suter?" 

"Christi Sutton?" Kelly exclaimed. 

"That's it!" Sunshine confirmed. "Anyway..." 

This was probably the last thing that Kelly wanted to hear about. Christi Sutton was one of the biggest tramps at T. C. Williams, a fact that she was overwhelmingly proud of. 

"She asked me to go out with her this weekend, and I am sort of new in town... " 

Why didn't he just stab her in the stomach and twist it a little. It would sure as hell feel better than this. She picked up her milk and put it to her lips. 

"What I was wondering was," he paused, his face turning red from obvious embarrassment, "what am I supposed to do?" 

Kelly choked, spewing milk on the table in front of her. Sunshine grabbed some napkins and struggled to help her clean in up. "I'm sorry." She laughed, "I'm sorry. What are you supposed to do? Are you asking me how to go on a date?" 

"Gee, and to think, I was worried about the guys laughing at me!" Sunshine said. 

"I'm sorry," Kelly said, struggling to gain control over her laughter, "I'm sorry." Sunshine shook his head and stood up to walk away. Kelly caught him by the arm, "No, don't go!" She said, tightening her lips and cutting off her laughter. It was apparent she was holding it all back, "I'm done. Sorry, really." Sunshine gave her a doubting look, but sat down on the seat beside her. "Okay," she continued after a moment of calming herself, "You've been on a date before, right?" 

"Well, yeah," Sunshine said, "just never with a girl from here and I don't know what she expects." 

"With Christi, I would say save your money and just take her to the hill." Kelly said, pushing her trey away from her. 

"The hill?" Sunshine said incredulously, "The make out place?" 

"Yeah, the make out place," Kelly said, "as well as the 'other things' place." 

"And," Ronnie started, "you think Christi would want to go up there on our first date?" 

Kelly smiled, "Well, my guess would be that it wouldn't be the first time Christi's been up there." 

"Oh, great." Ronnie said, "One of those. Wait a second. Have you... ever... been to the hill?" 

The question made Kelly want to smile. He cared whether or not some guy had managed to get her to the hill. "The short answer," she replied, "is no. I'm not that kind of girl." 

Sunshine smiled. He wasn't sure if he could have handled the image of Kelly 'parking' with someone. Especially if the someone in that image wasn't himself. He caught himself involuntarily wondering if she would go to the hill with him if he asked her. He tried to push the thought from his mind. Gerry would have his balls if he knew he were even thinking about Kelly and the hill in the same sentence. 

"Sunshine?" Kelly's voice came, "Are you okay?" 

She reached over and lay her hand on his forearm. The sudden contact snapped Sunshine out of his little trance and he looked at her, "What?" 

"Are you all right?" She laughed, but her eyes were concerned. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." He told her. Her hand was still resting on his arm. He looked down at it and felt heat creeping up under his collar. She had touched him a million times, why was it suddenly affecting him so much? Then he realized the image that had been going through his head had involved her... minus that cute sweater she was wearing. His eyes wandered to her chest and the way it would rise and fall with her every breath. She turned toward him, her knee coming into contact with his. He felt the blood rushing to his head, amongst other places, and shot up from his chair. 

"Sunshine," she said, "are you sure you're okay?" 

"Yes." He said, nodding his head, "I'm great. I just, uh, I have to, I just, I gotta go. To class. You know." 

"Okay." Kelly said, raising a questioning eyebrow. 

Sunshine continued to nod as he backed away from her, bumping into another student behind him. "Sorry." He apologized quickly, as the boy's trey hit the ground. 

Kelly stood up, "Uh," 

"I gotta go. Sorry, man." He said again, then turned and rushed out of the cafeteria. 

Kelly stared after him. She had no idea what was going on in Sunshine's head. She did know one thing, though. She was gonna find out, whether he liked it or not. 


	4. The Veer

**Author's note:** Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. I have been suffering from massive writer's block for the past month or so. This chapter was really difficult for me to write, because I wasn't sure how far I wanted to go with it. It's not the favorite chapter that I've written so far, but I'll you guys decide for yourselves. 

**Personal note:** As I said above, this was a really hard chapter for me to write, so please, please, please let me know what you think of it. I'd also like to know thoughts on the story in general. As always, thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far, I look forward to hearing from all of you again and hopefully some new reviewers. THANKS :) 

Chapter Four: The Veer 

Wednesday morning, Kelly asked her friend, Cecile, to find out exactly how set on Sunshine Christi Sutton really was. To Kelly's knowledge, once Christi had her eye on something, she got it, and the thought that she had her eye on Ronnie turned Kelly's stomach. She had tried to talk herself into being rational about the whole situation the entire day previous. After all, what business did she have getting jealous over Sunshine? It wasn't as if they were dating or anything like that. Despite the logic of her argument with herself, it could not dissipate the possessive feeling she had where Sunshine was concerned. 

At the end of her last period class, Kelly was greeted in the hallway by Cecile's frowning face. Without even asking, Kelly knew the information that Cecile was waiting to pass on to her. Christi wanted Sunshine. 

"It doesn't mean that he'll want her as well, you know." Cecile said in an attempt to comfort her friend as the they walked down the road toward Kelly's house after school. 

Kelly cast her a sideways glare, "Be realistic, Cecile. This is Christi, we're talking about here." 

"What does she have that makes her so irresistible, huh?" Cecile asked. 

"Do you want the short or long list?" Kelly countered. 

Cecile felt herself chuckle, despite inappropriateness of it, "I think the short list will be sufficient." 

Kelly sighed, "Blond hair, short skirts, and open legs." 

At those words, Cecile let out a loud laugh. A car whizzed by them, the pulled to the side of the road ahead and came to a stop. Cecile stopped laughing, "Okay, I admit, strange cars stopping in front of me make me nervous." 

"Just keep walking, and don't look at them." Kelly ordered as the two girls neared the car. 

True to what Kelly said, neither girl so much as glanced over at the car as they passed it. "Oh, I see," came an all too familiar voice, "you're just gonna pass me by without so much as a 'hello'." 

Kelly stopped in her tracks and turned with a smile spreading across her lips. He sat there grinning at her, with one eyebrow raised. "Hi, Petey." She said. 

"Hey, there, baby doll." Petey said. 

"When did you get a car?" She asked walking over to him and leaning down against the window. 

"I wish!" Petey said, "It ain't mine. My father let me borrow it since he had the day off." Kelly nodded her understanding. "I don't think I've met your friend." 

"Oh!" Kelly said. She grabbed Cecile by the arm and dragged her back to the car. "Petey, this is Cecile Warner. Cecile, this is Petey Jones." 

They shook hands. "Pleased to meet you." Cecile said. 

"Likewise." Petey said. 

"Where are you going?" Kelly asked. 

"A bunch of us are meeting over at Sunshine's place to help him with the Veer. He can't quite get the pitch right." Petey explained, "Why don't you two tag along? Gerry's already over there and ya'll can ride over with me." 

Kelly looked to Cecile, "You want to?" 

"Sure." Cecile said with a shrug. 

The two girls climbed into the car and Petey steered them back onto the road. The ride to Sunshine's took about fifteen minutes, all through which Petey kept them entertained with stories of the team's experience at camp. When Kelly brought up how Sunshine had told her that he was the one responsible for the nickname, Petey couldn't help but laugh and exclaim that it was a moment of 'brilliance' on his behalf. Kelly felt her breath catch in her throat when Petey began to maneuver the car into a driveway. Why was she so nervous? She climbed out of the car and helped Cecile out of the back seat. They followed Petey up to the door and stood admiring the house as he rang the bell. The front door swung open revealing a tall, stern looking man with graying hair. Kelly assumed that this was Sunshine's father. 

"Afternoon, Colonel Bass." Petey said. 

"How are you, son?" Said the man. 

"I'm good." Petey said, then gestured to the girls, "These are some friends, Kelly Bertier, Gerry's sister, and Cecile W-Warner." He seemed proud that he had remembered Cecile's last name. 

"How do you do, sir?" Kelly said as Cecile just smiled. 

"Very well, thank you, Ms. Bertier." He replied, "The boys are already practicing out back. You know the way, Petey." Petey lead them into the house. "It was a pleasure meeting the both of you." Colonel Bass said as they passed him. 

They walked through a lovely living room and into a kitchen, then out the back door. The boys were in mid-play when they came out the door. Gerry and Blue were trying to shove each other in the opposite direction, Julius was down at the bottom of the yard, but coming up fast, and Alan was rushing toward Rev, who was looking to Sunshine, a very shirtless Sunshine. Sunshine danced around for a moment before pitching the ball about three yards to the left of Rev, who threw his arms out to the side in a questioning gesture. 

Kelly fell lightly back against Cecile, who whispered in her ear, "Calm down, honey." 

Kelly couldn't calm down. Sunshine was standing there, with his hands on his hips, and no freaking shirt! His lean, taught body glistened with sweat and Kelly was ashamed to admit that she suddenly envied the dishtowel that was tucked into his gym shorts. 

"Come on, Sunshine!" Petey's voice mercifully snapped her out of her trance, "That was pitiful." 

"Yeah, thanks. What took you so long to get here, Pete..." His eyes fell on Kelly, "Oh. Hey." He said and walked over to stand in front of her. She was standing on the patio, which actually raised her to eye level with him. 

Kelly smiled and waved with her fingers. 

"Hey, lil' sis." Julius said. 

Gerry was by his side, "Hey, kids. What are you guys doing here?" 

"Girls, Gerry." Cecile corrected. 

"Petey invited us. He said you had to teach this slacker here how to throw a proper pitch." Kelly explained as she reached over and ruffled Sunshine's damp hair. 

"Slacker?" Sunshine exclaimed. 

"Uh-huh." Kelly nodded, then pointed to Cecile, "Guys, this is Cecile. Cecile, these are the guys." She went on, pointing out each one of her friends as she spoke, "That's Blue, Julius, you know Gerry and Alan. That's Rev, and this," she slung her arm around Sunshine's sweaty shoulders, "is Sunshine." 

They all either said 'hi' or waved a hand. Cecile offered them all a warm smile and waved her own hand in greeting. Kelly walked away from Sunshine and plopped down in one of the cushioned chairs that sat beside the patio table. Cecile followed her lead and sat in one of the other deck chairs. 

"All right, boys. Show me this veer that you say my little Sunshine is so pathetic at." Kelly laughed as Sunshine shot her a look. 

She watched the play, and watched as Sunshine once again pitched the ball a mile from it's mark. "Sunshine!" She bellowed. 

Sunshine braced his hands on his narrow hips and cast her another look. "Do you think that you can do better, Kel?" 

"No, honey." Kelly said, shaking her head, "I'm a receiver. But, even I know that you have to see your man to get the ball to him." 

"A receiver?" Sunshine laughed and cast a glance over at Gerry, who nodded his head in confirmation. He turned back to the petite strawberry. "All right then, come on, Kel-kel. Let's see whatcha got." 

"Kel-kel?" Kelly asked, stepping off the patio. 

Sunshine nodded, "That's right." 

"Oh, now you've done it." Cecile chuckled. 

"Okay, Goldie Locks," she smirked, "you're asking for it. Rev? Be my quarterback?" 

"Sure." Rev said, jogging over to where Sunshine stood. 

"Okay, before we go," Kelly asked, "this is full contact, right? None of that sissy two hand touch crap?" 

"Baby doll, I will give you as much contact as you want." 

"HEY!" 

"I didn't mean that, Gerry!" Petey exclaimed quickly. 

Rev called 'hike' and the play was set into motion and executed perfectly. Once the ball was in her hands, Sunshine watched as Kelly charged past Julius and then slipped right through Petey's hands, high kicking her way all the way to the end of the yard. 

"And THAT, my boy, is how it is done!" She laughed. 

"All right," Julius said, "we have an even number of people. I say we play some football." 

"Should we go easy on the girl?" Blue asked. 

"Man," Petey exclaimed, "did you have your eyes closed just then?" 

Gerry laughed and swatted Blue in the shoulder, "I wouldn't recommend taking it easy on Kel. She won't take it easy on you." 

"Yeah man," Julius added, throwing his arm around Kelly for a beat, "this little girl gives just as well as she gets!" 

"And I bet she gives really good, too." A warm whisper breathed into her ear, sending a thrilling shiver down her spine. Sunshine cast her a cocky smirk as he brushed past her after the remark. She paused a moment to gather her wits. So, that was they way he wanted to play it? Well, she really could give just as well as she got and Sunshine was about to find that out. 

"I got Sunshine." She said to Gerry. 

"No," Gerry said, quickly, "I'll get Sunshine." 

"No, you need to go after Petey, he's faster." Kelly said logically. 

Julius watched the exchange, barely able to hold in his laughter. 

"I really think Sunshine is too big for you to bring down." Gerry said. 

Kelly glared at him and hissed, "He's mine." She narrowed her eyes in a way that Gerry had seen many times before and he knew that in her mind, the issue was closed. 

The teens lined up across from each other Cecile cheered loudly for Kelly from the patio. The call sounded, the ball went into play, and Kelly charged her prey. It took less than a minute and Sunshine found himself on the flat of his back, the petite strawberry blonde on top of him. She smiled mischievously and batted those pretty eyes of hers with an innocence that he knew was false. He couldn't help but soak up the feeling of being between those toned legs as she wiggled slightly on his hips. She lowered herself so her mouth was practically against his ear and whispered, "Pretty Sunshine, I give even better than I get." 

Quite pleased with herself, Kelly began to raise herself back up. Sunshine didn't falter, though. He caught her by the wrist and pulled her back just far enough so that their eyes locked. A smile curved on his pretty mouth as he said, "Oh, I don't doubt that." 

Kelly felt her breath catch in her throat and didn't know what to say. She was frozen in place, which to Sunshine's pleasure, and Gerry's dismay, was still hovering over Sunshine, straddling his waist. They were staring straight into each other's eyes, neither blinking as if in fear that the slightest movement would break the trance. Somewhere in the distance, Gerry cleared his throat, bringing the both of them crashing back to reality. 

Sunshine looked at his position as if for the first time and began struggling out from under his team captain's little sister. He wondered back and tried to remember what his thought process had been that kept him lying under her and making those comments. Simple. There had been no process. He was a man, at a rather hormonal age, who was attracted to a pretty girl that had a tendency to be very flirty with him. He was acting under base instincts. He could feel Gerry's hard stare baring down on him and focused all of his attention on the ground. Somehow, he got the impression that Gerry wouldn't accept the whole hormonal male theory. 

Kelly slowly released a breath she was surprised to find she had been holding. Sunshine wouldn't look at her. In fact, it seemed the he had suddenly become fascinated by the grass. Julius sidled up to stand next to her. 

"Nice sac, little Bertier. Looks like you had him just about where you wanted him, huh?" He said, a knowing smile on his handsome face. 

"Whatever you're implying, Campell," Kelly gave him a meaningful look, "you shouldn't." 

"Ooh," Julius sang, "I wander if old Sunshine knows what trouble he's getting himself into." 

Kelly glared at him, "He's not in any trouble. Least not with me. I hear he has a date with Christi Sluton, I mean, Sutton." 

"I don't care who he has a date, it ain't gonna change the way he looks at you every time he thinks there's no one lookin'. People see, though. People always see." 

"What are you saying, Jules?" Kelly asked. 

Julius cast a glance over at Gerry. Kelly followed his gaze and saw the way her brother's brow was furrowed, as narrowed, and lips stretched into a thin line. He was angry. 

"Just that Superman is about ready to crack Pretty boy's neck." Julius said, "I'm gonna try to smooth that peacock's feathers now. I'll talk to ya later, sis." 

Cecile stepped down from the patio and made her way to Kelly's side. "What was all that about?" 

"What?" Kelly asked. 

"What?" Cecile mocked her friend, "That whole clobber the cute quarterback and then molest him for a while thing." 

"I wasn't molesting him!" Kelly hissed as quietly as she could manage. 

"Oh, no?" Cecile said, "Honey, everyone here saw it." 

"Who's side are you on, anyway, traitor?" Kelly demanded. 

Cecile held her hands up in surrender, "Completely objective third party in this case. But, don't worry, when it comes down between you and Christi, I'm all you, baby." 

Kelly tried not to laugh, "Well, that's good to know. At least you won't abandon me for the slutbag." 

It didn't take Gerry long to drag Kelly and Cecile home after that. He ignored everything Julius said to him. Not wanting to hear how he needed to calm down and think about it all rationally or about how Kelly was a grown girl who was old enough to make her own decisions about the guys she wanted to date or not date. In Gerry's head, she was still ten years old and not able to make her own choices. She clearly couldn't see that Sunshine was all wrong for her, and it was his job as her big brother to protect her from getting hurt by that damned playboy. 

After realizing that his efforts were fruitless, Julius relented and watched Gerry strong-arm Kelly and Cecile away. 'Somebody needs to knock some sense into that boy' he thought to himself. He heard the tires on Gerry's Camaro squeal as he pulled out of the driveway and turned back to the other's who had already resumed their practice. He cast a glance at Sunshine and could tell that he wasn't completely focused on what he was doing. His eyes had a sort glazed look to them, and Julius knew that he was thinking about what had just happened between him and Kelly. 

The whole gang had witnessed the event, but after seeing the murderous look one Gerry's face, they had all been smart enough not to say anything about it. After Gerry left, they knew that it was the last thing that Sunshine needed to worry about, so they had all opted not to bring it up then, either. And, for once in his life, Petey had been able to keep his mouth closed. So, there was a God after all. 


	5. Game Two

**Author's note:** Here's the latest chapter. Sorry it's so short, but I pretty much said everything that needed to be said at this point in the story and I wouldn't want to give too much away, now would I? 

**Personal note:** As always, thank you to all my reviewers, you're all very kind. I hope you continue to enjoy the story and you're constructive comments are always appreciated. Keep reading and be sure to let me know what you think and how you're liking the story in general. THANKS :) 

Chapter Five: Game Two 

The week went downhill from there. When Gerry and Kelly got home from Sunshine's, Kelly had watched in disgust as their mother forced Gerry to stand Julius up on their plans for the evening because she had no desire to 'get to know' Julius or any other 'colored' person for that matter. All through the day on Thursday, things were tense between the guys from the community trying to tear them apart. There were still protesters with signs outside the school every morning, their chants echoing through the halls, disrupting classes. Spirits were heavy with turbulent emotions bubbling just under the surface of every student of T.C. Williams High. When school was out, it was no better. Uneasiness seemed to float through the air of the town like a fog, swirling and engulfing all it came across. The boys suffered at practice, though they tried not to show it. They struggled with plays, and Boone rode their asses harder than they thought possible. 

"What's wrong with you?" He demanded at one point, "You're playing like you did before camp!" 

As if things weren't bad enough, Friday came, and with it, the second game of the season. 

Cecile and Kelly huddled together in the stands of Herdon high school, trying to ward off the cold night air with each other's body heat. What was happening on the field was a sad sight. They may have been beating the Hornets, but the Titans' performance was less than pitiful. 

"What's wrong with them?" Kelly exclaimed to no one in particular. 

Cecile cast her a sideways glance. "What are you talking about? They're winning." 

"That doesn't mean they're playing well." Kelly stated. 

As if to illustrate her point, Rev threw a seemingly perfect pitch right into a receiver's hands, and the crowd watched as that receiver let the ball drop to the soggy grass of the field. Hands on his hips, Rev shook his head in frustration. He knew that they could play better than this. Again, mud covered Titans lined up on the ball. 

Lewie Lastik put his hand on the ball. His fingers felt cold and numb and slick with mud. He felt disappointed in his teammates, a feeling he never thought he would feel. They were playing a team that seemed to have no desire to really play, and they were barely hanging onto their lead. He heard Rev call hike and snapped the ball before he threw himself into the Hornet in front of him. 

Rev danced around in the pocket for what seemed like an eternity, only to find that there wasn't one open man for him to throw to. At the sight of three Hornet players charging him, he gave up on the play, and threw the ball away, taking an incomplete pass over a sac. He would rather lose a down instead of yardage. 

"What's going on with you!" He bellowed once the team gathered in a huddle. "Somebody get open!" 

All for nothing, they ended up punting on the fourth down. Defense went trotting back out onto the field, weary soldiers being sent back out to the front lines. Offense couldn't seem to stay in the game, which meant that they were struggling against the Hornets almost constantly. Kelly winced as she watched Gerry miss what should have been an easy tackle, and Julius had to double time it to make up for it. 

Julius stood up and stomped over to his friend. Gerry slowly climbed to his feet only to have Julius slam his helmet against his own. "What are you doing out here, man?" Julius growled. 

Gerry responded only by shoving Julius bodily away from him. Julius ignored the glare of warning that Gerry had cast him and kept right on. "You better wake up, Superman!" He called to his friend's retreating form. The very next play, Gerry and Julius basically cloths lined a player, knocking him flat on his back. They banged their helmets together and screamed at each other in victory. 

"Left side!" Gerry exclaimed. 

"Strong side!" Came the reply. 

"Left side!" 

"Strong side!" 

Fists banging on should pads and another crashing of head gear, and they returned to the line. The call went out and the quarterback for the Hornets threw a beautiful pass right down the center of the field. It was soaring straight for the hands of his man, when out of nowhere, Petey reached up and snatched the ball out of midair. Titan's fans went absolutely crazy. It was one of the only one percent good things to happen throughout the entire game. With that, the Titans' offense resumed in a drive for the end zone. 

Kelly couldn't stop her gaze from wondering over to Christi Sutton, who kicking and shaking her pompoms, screaming, "Go, Titans!" Her hair was fixed in a simple ponytail, but still looked perfect and elegant. As she stood with her pompoms on her hips, smiling and wide eyed, she gave off an air of perfect poise and togetherness. Her composure seemed effortless, which made Kelly want to rip the little cheerleader's hair out. 

On the field, the team had just fumbled and barely recovered the ball. Boone sent in two new receivers and had the one who dropped the football by the face mask and was screaming at him. No doubt that boy was gonna be running laps after the game. Petey walked over to the bench and sat down beside Sunshine in hopes of catching his breath before he had to go back in. 

"What's wrong with you Sunshine?" He asked, noticing the distraught look on his friend's face. 

In all honesty, Sunshine thought that he was losing his mind over the whole Kelly thing. He couldn't get her out of his mind. He thought about when he ate. He thought about her when he practiced. He thought about her when studied, showered, and slept. Basically, if he breathed, he thought about her. But he couldn't tell that to Petey and his big mouth. His mind struggled to make up some excuse, same generic answer to Petey's question. "I can't make that pitch, Petey." He said, finally. 

The answer seemed to satisfy Petey as he laughed and explained to Sunshine that he was never gonna get to play anyway. Sunshine breathed a sigh of relief as Petey just kept rambling on. He knew that once he got Petey talking, he wouldn't stop, which meant he wouldn't ask him anymore tough questions. Out on the field, the team was struggling to maintain it's foothold in the game, inching their way oh so slowly to the goal line. 

When the game ended, the Titan's walked away with the win, but it wasn't a pretty one. Kelly and Cecile climbed into Cecile's father's car to head back to the school to meet up with the football team's bus. 

"That had to be one of the worst games I have ever seen." Kelly stated as she buckled her seat belt. 

Cecile shrugged, "It wasn't so bad. At least they won." 

"They won because the Herdon Hornets suck." Kelly informed her friend, "If they play like that next week, they'll get creamed." 

Somewhere between forty-five minutes and an hour later, Cecile maneuvered her father's large Chevy into the T.C. Williams parking lot. They hurried out of the car and ran over to join the crowd that had formed around the bus. People were chanting and screaming and applauding as the Titan team climbed off the bus, but the boys themselves didn't seem to happy with their performance. Even Petey wasn't being quite as loud as usual. Rev found the girls first. 

"Hey, little Bertier, Cecile." He said with a smile. 

Cecile grinned, "Good game." 

Rev's smile grew, "Nah, it wasn't." Cecile blushed and looked down, "but thanks for saying so." Rev added and nudged her with his elbow. Cecile beamed at him. 

Kelly was standing on her tiptoes, trying desperately to spot Gerry... or Sunshine, you know, whoever she happened to see first. 

"Hey, kid." She heard her brother's familiar voice say. She turned to him and hugged his neck. "Don't even tell me that I played well tonight, I can't handle the sympathy." He said as he hugged her back. 

Kelly laughed, "I would never lie to you like that, big brother." She said, pulling back from him. "But you didn't play horribly, so that's better than nothing, right?" 

Gerry smiled at that and then turned to get a hug from Cecile. Kelly spun around and continued looking for Sunshine. Gerry and Rev had wondered off to talk to Julius and Rev had pulled Cecile along with them, leaving Kelly standing there by herself. That was when Ray approached her. 

"Hey there, cutie." He said. 

"Oh," she smiled, "hey, Ray. Tough game, huh?" 

"Ah, it wasn't too bad." He said. "So, you going out with Gerry tonight?" 

"Oh, I don't know. I'm not sure what's going on to..." 

At that moment, she spotted Sunshine, and she really wished that she hadn't. Somewhere in the distance, she heard Ray asking her to go out with him that night, but her mind was too focused on the sight in front of her. Sunshine was standing by the steps of the school, with that flouncy, bouncy, towheaded cheerleader tramp hanging all over him. Her stomach churned and she thought that she was going to throw up right there, all over Ray's shoes. Instead she forced herself to turn back to him. 

"I'm sorry, Ray," she said, "I can't go out with you tonight. I'm not feeling too well, and I think I'm just going to go home and go to bed." 

"Okay, well, some other time then." Ray said. 

"Yeah, sure." Kelly said distractedly and headed over to where Cecile, Rev, Gerry, and Julius were all standing. She lightly tugged on her friend's arm and pulled her out of the circle slightly, but she still drew everyone's attention. "Look, Cecile, I'm just gonna head on home, okay?" 

"How are you getting home?" Cecile asked. 

"I'll find a ride, it's okay." Kelly said. 

"Are you sure? What's wrong, honey?" Cecile asked, her concern clear, "What happened?" 

Kelly shook her head, "Nothing. Don't worry about it, it's okay. I'm fine." 

"You're sure?" Cecile tried one last time. 

Kelly nodded and walked away. Cecile wasn't convinced, then she saw Sunshine and Christi out of the corner of her eye and turned to get a better look. Christi had practically wrapped herself around Sunshine. "Oh, no." Cecile groaned and spun around to see if she could find Kelly, but she had already disappeared. "Great." 


	6. author's note

**Author's Note:**

Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews. I know it has been forever since I have updated this story, but because of all of you that keep giving me more reviews for it I am going to continue to update. The next will be along within the next week, I promise. Be patient with me while I fall back into the story. I promise, I will finish it. Again, thank you and keep reviewing!


	7. Sunshine and Christi

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone for being so patient with me. Here's the next (really) long overdue chapter. Let me know what you think.

Chapter Six: Sunshine and Christi

Christi leaned her back against the door of Sunshine's car and slung one arm lazily over the back of the seats. She lowered her eyelids seductively and allowed one sleeve of her cardigan to drop off her shoulder, revealing the lacy camisole she wore underneath.

"Sunshine," she said, "you are too cute."

Sunshine cowered a little closer to his own door.

"Look at you," Christi continued to coo, "sitting over there being all shy."

Sunshine tried to force himself to smile, but only managed to slightly raise one corner of his mouth to have it immediately drop back down.

"Oh, come on now, little Sunshine," Christi said, scooting nearer to her prey and placing her hand on his upper thigh, "You don't have to be shy with me, Sunshine. I won't tell anyone your secrets…or our secrets." Her hand began a steady rhythm up and down his thigh as Sunshine just stared down at it. It was steadily rising higher with every caress and his hands gripped a little tighter on the steering wheel.

Meanwhile, Kelly crawled under the covers of her bed. Images of Christi and Sunshine in compromising positions flooded through her already aching mind. There was no escape from them. She saw it when she closed her eyes, she saw it when she opened them. It was a nightmare that wouldn't end. Perhaps there was hope that Sunshine would turn down a tramp like Christi, but then Kelly knew Christi. Girls like Christi didn't stop until they got their way, and Christi seldom had trouble getting her way with men. And, despite his good nature and intentions, Sunshine was still very much a man.

And she had spotted them. Cecile had understood that she didn't feel like going out anywhere to celebrate. Ray had cornered her at one point, but she told him that she felt like she was going to throw up and didn't want to do anything but go home and cuddle up in her own bed. He tried for a bit longer to get her to go out with him to party, but he finally got the message and offered her a ride home.

Kelly let out a loud cry of frustration before finally burying her head under her pillow and crying herself to sleep. The only thought that comforted her was that she had an entire weekend to harden herself against the thought of Sunshine and Christi walking down the halls hand in hand.

"Sunshine, I can't figure out why you keep pulling away from me. Don't you think I'm pretty?" Christi asked.

"Yeah, I mean, of course I think you're pretty. You're very pretty, Christi…"

"Well then, come here!" Christi said and practically crawled into Sunshine's lap. He had no escape. Christi began trailing kisses across his neck and cheeks.

"Christi!" He exclaimed.

In the morning, Kelly woke up even more tired than she had been before she had fallen asleep. It had been a completely restless slumber and more than likely the reason she felt like there was a train running through her head. All she wanted to do was crawl into a hole and forget everything she had seen after the game last night. Instead, she crawled out of bed and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Stupid, evil cheerleader.

Gerry looked at his little sister when she trudged into the kitchen. "What happened to you?"

"Rough sleep." Kelly hissed, "What did you get into last night?"

"Not a lot. None of us really felt like partying. We played like hell last night. You know it, we know it, everyone knows it."

"Yeah, what's up with that? You guys have so much talent and you seem like you have fun together…what's going on?"

"I think it's just all this outside stuff, you know. It's really putting a strain on everyone." Gerry said.

"It all just seems so stupid."

"Tell me about it."

Kelly dropped her head to the table with a groan. She heard Gerry stand up and walk out of the kitchen. She desperately needed an Aspirin to stop her head from pounding. Christi had Sunshine, the football team was playing like crap, and there were people protesting every morning at the gate of her school. Things could not possibly get any worse.

"Gerry Bertier! I do not want you consorting with THOSE people!" Mrs. Bertier's voice bellowed from the other room.

Kelly was wrong. Things could always get worse. Never say that things can't get any worse, because that's normally when they do. She thought that maybe she should go back to bed and pretend that everything was all a very bad dream, but she also knew that that would be useless. The world had practically gone crazy, and she was smack dab in the middle of all the fun.

The rest of the weekend went by fairly uneventful. Kelly's headache lasted for the entire length of it and Gerry and their mother's constant fighting did not help to ease it. She was almost thankful when Monday came and she had school to look forward to. The protestors seemed almost like a peaceful refuge compared to the war that was raging in her own home between her mother and brother. She was in Gerry's camaro before he was. She was probably in that car and ready to go before her brother was even fully awake. She just wanted out of that house. She wasn't sure she was ready to see Sunshine and Christi together, but what choice did she have? When Gerry came to the car, he seemed unnaturally happy considering the weekend that he had been through.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked.

Gerry looked over at her and grinned like she hadn't seen him grin in what had to be years. "We've got a plan!" he exclaimed.

He looked so stupidly happy, Kelly could not hold in her chuckle. She shook her head and continued to giggle at him for half of the ride to school.

The protestors were as enthusiastic as ever at the gates and Kelly walked by giving them all the attention she felt they deserved. None. She spotted Rev and had half a mind to run up and kiss him just to shock them all into silence, but she knew that Rev would be the one to bare the brunt of the consequences for such an action and she could never bring herself to do that to him. Instead, she cast him a smile and a little wave as she dashed up the stone steps into the school to get to class.

She strode through those halls like a woman on a mission, and she was. Her mission: to avoid Sunshine at any and all costs. When had life become so complicated? It didn't used to be so. She got into the room for her first class and released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Relief could not quite cover the feeling that she had. She took her seat and happily listened to every single word that came out of the teacher's mouth.

Class, however, was over far too soon and she was back in the halls again. This time, her eyes fell almost immediately on Sunshine. He was leaning against a locker with Christi standing in front of him. The sight of him was enough to steal the air from her lungs. Why did she care so much? What was he to her? Nothing…or everything. She couldn't figure out which one it was yet.

Sunshine spotted Kelly out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to go to her. He wanted to talk to her and ask her why he had seen her leaving the game with Ray on Friday. But what would Gerry say? Maybe she would come to him. He saw her start to walk in his direction and then vaguely remembered that Christi was in front of him rambling on about something or other that was completely unimportant to him. He watched the way Kelly was walking. She seemed determined to walk right past him and Christi seemed determined not to shut up. It was supposed to be the other way around in his head. He wanted Christi to walk past him, completely unnoticed, and he wanted Kelly standing in front of him, smiling and laughing and talking. Oh, Gerry was going to have his head before the season was over.

Wait! Where did she go? He blinked. He had blinked and in that amount of time, Kelly had disappeared around the corner. How had he not seen her pass? Had he gone temporarily blind? He must have.

Kelly braced herself against the wall and tried to catch her breath. She had practically just sprinted past Sunshine and Christi to avoid having to talk to them. They were looking far too cozy for her comfort level and she just wasn't ready to deal with it. Ray chose that moment to appear.

"Hey, Kelly." He said.

"Oh," she smiled weakly, "hey, Ray."

"What's wrong?" he asked, "You seem out of breath."

"No. No. Just, uh," she began fanning herself, "just a little hot."

That seemed acceptable to Ray. "Can I walk you to class?"

Kelly couldn't think of one reason not to let Ray walk her to her next class. "Sure, Ray. That would be nice."

"Great." Ray said and put his hand on the small of her back to guide her through the crowded halls. As they were walking, Kelly spotted a notice on one of the bulletin boards showing that there was to be a football meeting that night in the gymnasium. Odd time for a football meeting, even for Boone. Seemed funny to her, but she would just ask Gerry about it later.

Sunshine stepped around the corner and saw Kelly walking down the hall with Ray's hand on her back. There was sudden know that formed out of nowhere in his stomach. He knew that he needed to stay away from Kelly, he didn't want to piss off his captain, but…shouldn't that rule apply to everybody on the team? Why was it okay for Ray to put his grubby hands all over her?

Sunshine shoved the thought from his mind and continued on his way to his classroom, staring at his feet as he walked. Thinking like that wasn't going to solve anything. He just needed to accept the situation and go about his business as usual. What else could he do?

He could walk over there and put his fist through Ray's face, that's what he could do. But he wouldn't. He would go to class, attempt to pay attention, but spend the entire time thinking about Kelly. Just like every other day…only this day the thoughts would be tainted with images of her and Ray.


	8. What Was That All About?

1**Author's Note: **Thanks to all of my reviewers. I'm very glad that you enjoyed the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one just as much. I'm falling back into the groove of this story so hopefully I can keep the updates happening quickly. Let me know what you think. Thanks :)

Chapter Seven: What Was That All About?

Lunchtime rolled around and Kelly was joined by Cecile as she walked into the cafeteria. Cecile could tell right off the bat the Kelly wasn't handling the whole Sunshine/Christi situation very well.

"How you holdin' up, Tiger?" she asked.

The nickname earned her a chuckle from Kelly, even though she didn't appear to be in a laughing mood whatsoever.

"Did you see them together? In the hall?" Kelly asked.

Cecile sighed and nodded. "They didn't really look like they were together. Not really."

"They went to the hill, Cecile. Sunshine went to the hill with Christi Sutton. Are you really gonna tell me that you believe nothing happened between them?" Kelly said.

Cecile let her head drop into her hands. She knew that the odds were against Sunshine turning Christi down. She didn't want to say it though. She didn't want to tell her friend that the guy she liked was just like every other guy in the world and would probably give in to damn near any female that offered it to him. She wanted to tell her best friend that this guy was different, that he was her knight in shining armor come to sweep her away on his white steed.

It was about that moment that someone slid into the seat next to Cecile. It was Ray.

"Hey, Cecile. Can I talk to Kelly for a minute?" he asked.

Cecile nodded and then stood and wandered over to another table to talk to some people. Ray smiled at Kelly, and she tried her best to smile back, but came out as more of an awkward grimace. Ray had been hanging around her a lot lately and Kelly was worried that he was taking her friendship and turning it into something that it wasn't. She didn't want to mislead him and she was worried that he was misinterpreting everything that went on between them.

"Hey, Kelly." he said, "I'm sure you figured out by now that I...well, I..."

"Kelly?" a voice cut in.

Kelly looked up, thankful for the interruption, but a little tense when she looked up into the clear blue eyes of none other than Sunshine. "Hey." she said.

"Can we talk?" Sunshine asked.

"Actually," Ray said, "Me and Kelly were in the middle of something."

Sunshine glared at Ray. It took everything in him not to just reach over and strangle the boy. "It's important."

"All right." Kelly said.

"Kelly?" Ray exclaimed.

"Ray," Kelly cut him off, "I need to talk to Sunshine for a minute. I will find you later."

"Fine." Ray said, jerking to his feet. He shoved a shoulder into Sunshine as he passed and continued to glare at him until he exited through the cafeteria doors.

Sunshine sat down across from Kelly and she smiled and said, "What's up, Sunshine?"

"Are you mad at me?" he blurted.

The question caught Kelly off guard. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know. I just got this feeling that you've been avoiding me for most of the day."

Kelly grinned. He was right. But she wasn't about to admit to him that she was jealous of Christi Sutton. "I have not been avoiding you."

"I saw you leave the game with Ray on Friday." Sunshine said, he couldn't help it.

Kelly fought off the urge to smile. Was he jealous? "So?" she said, crossing her arms.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"What does it matter?" Kelly demanded.

"It doesn't! I just..." he had to chose his words very carefully at that moment. He was treading on very dangerous ground and he knew it, "I don't think that Gerry would take too kindly with your seeing a football player."

It was truth. Well. Half truth.

Kelly felt her gut twist with disappointment. "Oh." she said, "Well, Ray just gave me a ride home so Gerry has nothing to be concerned about."

"Nothing?" Sunshine questioned.

"Nothing." Kelly repeated, "So. How was your weekend? How's Christi?"

Sunshine chuckled, "She is...she's a trip."

"Yeah, I'll bet." Kelly mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. Did she take you to the hill and make a man out of you?" she said, trying her best not to sound too bitchy.

"What? God, no. I don't do that on the first date. I'm a gentleman." he said, a playful smile tugging on his lips, "It has to be at least the third."

"Of course!" Kelly laughed, smiling in spite of herself. She couldn't be mad at Sunshine. He was Sunshine. But, it was a relief to know that nothing had happened between him and Christi. Not yet, anyway.

"Hey, Kel?" Sunshine said, suddenly serious again, "Are we good?"

"Yeah, Sunshine, we're good." Kelly responded. And she meant it. No matter what happened between them, or didn't happen, she needed to be his friend.

"Good." he said, "Well, I'll see you later, then."

With that, Sunshine vacated his seat across from Kelly and left. He had to get away from her. If he had sat there any longer, he would have made a move. She was leaving herself wide open for it and he couldn't have stared at that opening for much longer without taking advantage of it. With the way the team was acting on the field here lately, the last thing they needed was the captain getting pissed off about his little sister. She needed to stay away from Ray especially. Sunshine did not like the way he had seen Ray looking at her. There was something predatory about it and he knew that Kelly was too damn nice for her own good.

Sunshine hadn't been gone a full minute when Ray had slid back into the seat across from Kelly. He smiled warmly at her and went to begin speaking. However, just we had opened his mouth, another voice rang out.

"Kelly?" Cecile called, "Kelly, I need you."

Kelly apologized to Ray before she stood and ran over to where Cecile was waving to her.

That night, the football team met up in the gymnasium for a meeting, which almost broke up when the players learned that the meeting had been called not by Coach Boone, but by Blue. Gerry and Julius had guarded the doors and not let anyone leave. After a fairly uplifting speech by Blue and an impromptu performance by Lewie and Rev, it wasn't long before the entire team was jumping and cheering.

Somewhere in the midst of it all, Gerry's eyes searched out Sunshine and he couldn't control the scowl that came over his face. Sunshine was just standing there, laughing and clapping along with the rest of his teammates, but there was something about it that was pissing Gerry off. It was more than likely the fact that he knew that Kelly was still infatuated with him, no matter how bad she tried to hide it.

Gerry was frustrated with himself. He should be happy with the fact that they had finally found a way to bring the team back together, not fixating on personal problem he had with the backup QB. Julius slapped him on the shoulder and brought him back into reality. He rejoined his teammates in their celebration of rediscovered comradery. He wouldn't tell Kelly about it. He would let her be surprised just like everybody else at school would be. She was gonna flip when she saw what they had come up with that night.


	9. Game Three

**Author's Note: **I cannot thank my reviewers enough. Thank you. Thank you all a million times over. I hope I don't disappoint you with this story. But, uh, any hoo, here's the next chapter. Please keep reviewing and letting me know what you think.

Chapter Eight: Game Three

The week passed by quickly after that. Kelly watched everyday as Christi draped herself all over Sunshine, watched her grow frustrated when he didn't return her public displays of affection. Sunshine watched as Ray used every free minute to hit on Kelly, though it seemed that Kelly didn't ever notice what it was he was doing. She smiled at him in the exact same way she smiled at everyone, though it seemed to encourage Ray in his pursuit.

When Friday rolled around, the entire school was bursting in anticipation for the game that night. It was against Groveton, one of the toughest schools in the district. Kelly would never admit to her brother or any of the other guys, but she was concerned with how the team would do. They hadn't been playing up to their full potential and if they half-assed it against Groveton, they would lose.

She rode to the game with Cecile, who seemed to be glowing more than she usually did.

"What are you so happy about?" Kelly asked her dear friend.

"I don't know." Cecile said, "I'm just in a good mood."

"Who is he and why haven't you told me about him?" Kelly demanded.

"There is no he."

"Liar."

"Okay, okay, there is a he." Cecile said, "But I don't want to say anything until I have more information for myself."

"Cecile! It's me! You're supposed to tell me before you fully realize it yourself! That's how best friends work."

"Just leave me along about it. You denied liking Sunshine when I figured it out, so don't lecture me about telling each other things." Cecile said, but it was said with a smile to let Kelly know that she wasn't really mad at her.

"Okay, okay, keep your secrets, but I will figure out who it is. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Cecile said, rolling her eyes as she maneuvered the car into the school parking lot.

People were only just starting to arrive when the two girls took their seats. The air had just started to get cold, so people had already taken to wearing lightweight jackets and huddling a bit close together for the sake of warmth. Cecile and Kelly were amongst their ranks with their arms locked and legs turned toward each other.

"I say we bring a blanket to the next game." Cecile said.

Kelly's teeth chattered as she answered, "I think I could agree with that."

It was about then that the cheerleaders took their place in front of the crowd. Kelly glared at Christi, who was clad in black leggings and had her face painted. She had a twelve on her cheek. Sunshine's number.

"Ugh!" Kelly growled, "I want to choke her!"

Cecile laughed and pulled her cap down lower over her sandy brown hair. "Easy, there, cupcake." She said.

"But she's evil and they teach us in church that evil must be destroyed." Kelly rationalized.

"I don't think killing cheerleaders was quite what they meant by that message." Cecile replied.

"Can you come up with a better meaning?"

"Several."

"Oh, who asked you?" Kelly huffed.

Then, a slight chanting came drifting on the wind.

"_Ooh, ahh, we feel_!"

"What's that?" Kelly asked.

"_Ooh, ahh, real good_!"

"I don't know." Cecile said, craning her neck in an attempt to see around the people sitting beside her.

"_Ooh, ahh, we feel_!"

"Oh, my God!" Cecile and Kelly laughed together.

"_Ooh, ahh, real good!"_

The entire Titan team came shuffling into view, throwing their arms into the air as they moved.

"What is going on?" Cecile asked.

"I have no idea." Was all that Kelly could say.

The squad went out to the field and lined up as though they were about to begin their warm-ups…but instead they began dancing.

"_Everywhere we go_

_everywhere we go_

_people wanna know_

_people wanna know_

_who we are_

_who we are_

_so we tell them_

_so we tell them_

_we are the Titans_

_we are the Titans_

_mighty mighty Titans_

_mighty mighty Titans._"

Kelly was in hysterics. She watched as Sunshine danced back and forth, bobbing his head and clapping his hand and shaking that firm little tush of his. It was just too much.

"Are you watching this?" Kelly laughed.

"Are you kidding?" Cecile responded, "Look at Alan. He's really getting into it."

"Is it Alan? Do you like Alan?" Kelly asked.

"No." Cecile replied.

"It's not Gerry, is it?"

"No!"

"Okay."

The opening kickoff was beautiful. It sailed right into the arms of one of the Titans receivers. Rev led a fantastic drive down the field. Then, on the snap, the crowd watched in horror as Rev was left unprotected and went down hard on his arm.

Everyone was on their feet in less than a second.

"REV!" Cecile screamed as the color drained from her face.

Sunshine, along with the rest of the players on the bench stared on in shock as a team of trainers rushed onto the field to see to the injured quarterback. A lump swelled up in his throat as he heard Coach Boone utter the words he had been dreading to hear.

"Ronnie Bass." Boone said.

Sunshine was on his feet and at Boone's side in an instant.

Kelly looked at Cecile like she had lost her mind. She was worried about Rev, too, but damn. Then, it all clicked into place like the gears of a machine. Kelly turned to Cecile, eyes wide and mouth agape. "Rev! It's Rev, isn't it?"

The little bit of color that was left in Cecile's cheeks disappeared, leaving her skin a pasty white. She turned very slowly to look at her best friend. "You can't say anything." She said.

"Like I would! Do you think I want to Rev shot?" Kelly exclaimed as quietly as was possible.

"He's just so nice." Cecile said, her worried gaze returning to the field where they were helping him to the sidelines. "You won't tell anyone, right?"

Kelly paused for a moment before answering, "Of course not."

She locked her arm through Cecile's and gave it a comforting squeeze. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw number twelve trot out toward the huddle.

Sunshine joined his team, trying desperately to appear a lot calmer than he actually felt. "Okay, guys, don't worry, I got this." He assured them, "Lewie, let him through."

Kelly's stomach tied itself into a wad of knots as the Titans lined up across the line of scrimmage. When Lewie snapped the ball, it took everything she had not to throw up. Then she watched as Sunshine got off a beautiful pass and then took out the charging defender just below the knees, the same defender who had just waylaid Rev. The crowd burst into applause. Sunshine had just proven himself to be one hell of a football player.

The rest of the game seemed to go by very quickly. It was all a succession of gorgeous, dead on passes, great runs, and quarterback sneaks…not to mention a few perfect pitches. T.C. Williams dominated Groveton that night. The offence was unstoppable and the defense was impenetrable. All in all, it was a beautiful game.

The crowd had thinned out, but there was still the same old stragglers waiting around in the parking lot for the players to come out of the locker room. Kelly and Cecile decided to wait on the bleachers and stay huddled together for warmth.

"If your teeth chatter any harder, you're liable to chip one."

Cecile and Kelly looked down to where Sunshine was standing, holding his duffle bag and grinning from ear to ear. Kelly stood up and walked down to the bottom of the bleachers, where she propped one foot up on the railing.

"Oh my goodness! It's Ronnie 'Sunshine' Bass! My hero!" As she said the word hero, she lifted herself onto the rail and then fearlessly fell over the edge with one hand to her forehead like a dramatic actress from the twenties.

It took Sunshine less than a second to respond, immediately dropping his bag and catching his friend before she slammed into the ground.

"Kelly Bertier! Don't you ever do that again! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Cecile screamed as she came thundering off the bleachers.

Kelly, who was still in Sunshine's arms, simply wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at Cecile, "But the cute quarterback saved me."

"Ha ha, very funny." Cecile quipped.

"Good Lord, Kel. You really could have hurt yourself." Sunshine said, setting Kelly back on her feet.

"Just testing your reflexes, big guy." Kelly laughed, giving him a playful punch in the shoulder.

"How's Rev?" Cecile asked, a little too anxiously.

"Ask him yourself. He's right there." Sunshine responded, pointing to where Rev was standing talking to several people.

Cecile didn't even bother to excuse herself. She just ran over to where the crowd had gathered and managed to maneuver herself in right by his side.

"Pretty good game, there, Sunshine." Kelly smiled, "Not a bad pitch, either. How did it feel?"

"It's felt great!" Sunshine exclaimed. Kelly couldn't remember ever seeing him this way. He was practically glowing. Her appreciation of the moment was cut short, however, by a mousy little voice coming out of nowhere to interrupt.

"Sunshine, darlin', we really should get going if we're gonna go get something to eat."

Kelly glared over her shoulder to where Christi was standing with her pompoms resting on her hips.

"Oh, yeah." Sunshine said, "I told Christi we'd go get a bite. Hey, you should come with."

Kelly turned back to him. Sweet, naïve little Sunshine. "Nah, that's okay. I should really go find a Gerry…and maybe a hose for Cecile."

"Huh? A what for Cecile?" Sunshine asked, his face turning confused.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Kelly said, forcing herself to smile, "I'll see you Monday."  
"Okay." Sunshine said. He reached down and lifted his duffle onto his shoulder before walking over to where Christi stood waiting for him. Kelly watched them zigzag their way through the steadily thinning crowd until finally, they disappeared. Hugging her arms tightly across her chest, though not necessarily for the sake of warmth, she made her own way across the parking lot until she found Cecile and Rev along with Gerry, Julius, Blue, and Alan. She kept telling herself that everything would be all right, at least for the rest of the night. She was with her friends and her big brother. She would be fine. Everything would be okay.

Of course, she didn't know what had just occurred between her beloved brother…and Ray.


	10. Ray

**Author's Note: **Thanks again to all of my reviewers. I'm glad you all are enjoying the story. Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you like it and don't forget to review!

Chapter Nine: Ray

"Tell me we have plans for the night." Kelly pleaded, locking her arm with Cecile's.

"Oh, yeah!" Cecile grinned, "Alan's having a party."

"Sweet little Alan?" Kelly asked, nudging Alan with her shoulder.

"What?" Alan said, "My parents are out of town."

"So, what are we all standing around here for?" Blue said, throwing his arm around Kelly and leading her away.

There was already a crowd forming outside of Alan's house when Gerry pulled into the driveway.

"Damn, word gets out fast in this town." Julius said.

"You ain't kiddin'." Kelly laughed from the backseat.

The outside was nothing compared to the crowd that was on the inside of the house. A game of smear the queer had already started up between five guys, including Petey, who were rushing from room to room tossing a football between them. Kelly spotted Sunshine out of the corner of her eye. He was sitting on a sofa on the far side of the room, a drink in one hand, the other draped casually across Christi's shoulders. Cecile noticed what Kelly was staring at and took hold of her friend's hand.

"Hey." Cecile said.

Kelly turned to her, jealousy evident in her eyes. "I need a drink." She said and made her way to the kitchen. Cecile started to follow after her, but Kelly stopped her, "No. No. Stay here and talk to Rev. I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Cecile asked.

"Sure I'm sure." Kelly laughed and walked away.

In the kitchen, Kelly had just gotten herself a glass of punch when a voice whispered in her ear, "You know, that's probably spiked."

Kelly smiled, "God, I hope so."

"Oh, really?" Sunshine laughed.

"Desperately." Kelly nodded, then the smile fell slightly from her face. "How's Christi?"

"She's…herself." Sunshine stated, watching as Kelly downed her drink and poured another.

"Oh, too bad." Kelly said, sipping from her new drink.

"Sorry?" Sunshine asked, confused by the way Kelly had just responded.

Kelly realized what she had said and laughed. "Nothing! Sorry, didn't mean that."

Sunshine stared at her for a long moment. So long that Kelly started to get the slightest bit uncomfortable. She finished her second drink and poured yet another cup.

"You know, maybe you should take it easy on those." Sunshine said.

Kelly rolled her eyes, "Oh, who asked you? Go back to you cheerleader before her head deflates."

She wasn't sure where that had come from. Kelly had never been a big drinker. Sunshine was taken aback by the way she was treating him. She had never spoken to him like that. He didn't like it.

"Yeah." He spat, "Yeah, fine. I can tell when I'm not wanted. Have another drink."

Kelly watched him walk away, realizing that maybe she had overstepped the bounds just then. Sunshine shouldered a receiver out of his way to get back to the living room where Christi was. Kelly poured herself another glass of punch and made her way to the other side of the house.

"Kelly!" someone called out to her.

Kelly turned around and smiled. "Hey, Ray."

Standing still threw her off a little and she wobbled on her feet. Ray reached out and caught her by the elbow. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," Kelly said, "I think maybe…I just…drank a little too punch much."

Ray grinned, "Oh? You gonna be all right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Kelly nodded, which turned out to be a bad idea. It threw off her equilibrium and she had to lean into Ray for support. She closed her eyes and willed the room to stop spinning. She was actually thankful Ray was standing there with his arms around her. He felt solid, stable, something that she needed at the moment. She could have gone to sleep right then and there.

"You hear what your brother did earlier?" Ray asked.

"Hmm?" Kelly said, but she wasn't really listening.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Ray said, "You know what?"

"Hmm?"

"I think you need to lay down." He continued.

So, Ray guided a stumbling Kelly toward the stairs.

Sunshine saw Kelly being led upstairs by some guy. To say that it got under his skin was an understatement. It actually really worried him, but she was being a real bitch earlier and his male pride wouldn't let him go to help her at that moment.

Ray opened a door and pretty much shoved Kelly into the darkened bedroom.

"Ray?" she said, "Ray where are we?"

"It's all right, Kelly." Ray said, "You just need to lay down."

He tossed her onto the bed where she stretched her arms and snuggled down into the pillows. Ray smiled at the way her lean body twisted on top of the covers. He peeled off his jacket and crawled onto the bed next to her.

"What are you doing?" Kelly asked, her eyelids drooping heavily.

"It's okay." He said, putting his hand on her stomach.

"Hmm."

Ray lifted her shirt and put his hand on her bare stomach. "God, Kelly. You are so gorgeous."

"Hmm?" Kelly mumbled. She couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

Ray leaned forward and kissed her lips. Kelly responded to the kiss, opening her lips and giving him access into her mouth. Ray broke away from her mouth and began trailing kisses along her neck.

"Mmm, Sunshine." Kelly whispered.

Ray stopped. "What?" he said.

Kelly opened her eyes and saw Ray. "Ray? What are you doing? Where are we?"

"You called me Sunshine!" he exclaimed. That was it. He snapped. He jumped on top of her and pinned her arms down.

"Ray, stop." Kelly said and tried to roll away from him.

"Where you going, huh?" Ray snarled, and held her in place.

"You're hurting me. No! Stop!" Kelly cried, "Get off!"

"Oh," Ray laughed and reached down for the button on her jeans, "I intend to."

"Stop it! No!" Kelly pleaded. She opened her mouth to scream, but Ray was too quick for her. He shoved his hand over her mouth until he grabbed a scarf off of the nightstand beside them and crammed as far down into her mouth as he could get it. Kelly took advantage of her free hand and hit him as hard as she could across the face. Ray grunted and grasped at his cheek, allowing Kelly the space that she needed to slip away from him. She scrambled for the door, but Ray tackled her from behind.

"You bitch!" He growled, "You're just like your brother!"

Kelly was coughing and gagging, but she couldn't get the damn scarf out of her mouth. Ray had captured both of her wrists in one hand and pinned them above her head and kneed his way between her legs. With his free hand and he ripped open her shirt and went for her jeans button again. Kelly couldn't scream and she couldn't figure out what she could do. She had to slow her thinking and clear her mind. She searched the room.

At her feet, she spotted a tall standing lamp. With all of her might, she brought her leg up and kicked it. It tipped over and crashed into the nearby window, sending glass shattering loudly to the ground.

Every head in the party turned toward the sound of breaking glass.

"Shit." Alan mumbled.

Sunshine looked in the direction the noise had come from in sudden terror. Who had Kelly gone upstairs with? He leapt from his spot on the couch beside Christi and went tearing for the staircase.

"Sunshine!" Christi called, "Where are you going?"

"You stupid bitch!" Ray grumbled, releasing her wrists and wrapping both hands around her throat.

All of the sudden, the door burst open and Kelly teared up when she saw Sunshine standing there.

"Look Kel," Ray hissed, "it's your night in shining armor."

"What the hell are you doin', Ray?" Sunshine demanded, stepping into the room.

Ray leaned down, "What?" he said, then licked Kelly's face as she screamed, though it was severely muffled by the scarf, and struggled against him in protest, "You mean this?"

"Let her go." Sunshine said, his voice frighteningly calm.

Ray ran one hand through Kelly's hair and whispered in her ear, "I have to take care of something, sweetheart. I'll be right back." He kissed her temple and stood.

Kelly immediately rolled away and ripped the scarf from her mouth and began coughing, trying to refill her lungs with oxygen.

"Let's go, pretty boy. Just you and me." Ray snarled.

Sunshine looked at Kelly. He saw her ripped shirt and the handprints forming on her delicate neck. Then, he looked at Ray. Kelly would be willing to swear that she heard and animal like growl escape his lips and he and Ray lunged for each other. Sunshine caught Ray in the chin with an upper cut, but Ray retaliated with a right cross. They both fell to the floor in a heap of limbs. Rolling around, punching and kicking…Ray even bit once.

As soon as Kelly caught her breath, she did what she had been trying to do from the very beginning of the whole ordeal. She let out the loudest, shrillest, most blood curdling scream she could possible muster. In the blink of an eye, half of the party downstairs had flooded through the bedroom door, including Gerry and Julius. Kelly rushed to her feet and leapt into her brother's arms as soon as her was in her eyesight.

"Kelly, Kelly, what's wrong?" Gerry said, pulling her away and holding her at arm's length. That was when he noticed her state of undress. "Who…who…?"

"Ray." Kelly sobbed.

Gerry stroked her hair, and then passed her into Cecile's arms. His cold stare turned to where Sunshine had Ray pinned to the ground. "You son of a bitch. I'm gonna tear you to pieces."

"He ain't the only one." Julius growled from his side.

Sunshine currently had his elbow resting on Ray's throat.

"Thanks Sunshine, but it's our turn. We can handle this jerk." Gerry said, pulling Sunshine away to give himself and Julius access to Ray.

Sunshine stood there for a minute, longing to jump back on top of Ray and give what he had coming, but then his thoughts shifted all at once and he headed for the door. "Kelly!" he called.

"She's here, Sunshine." He heard Cecile say.

He followed Cecile's voice and found them in the bathroom around the corner. He walked in to find Kelly sitting in the bathtub. She had turned the water on without taking off any of her clothes and was scrubbing furiously at her skin.

"I couldn't stop her." Cecile said helplessly.

"It's all right, Cecile. I'll take care of her. Go tell Gerry she's okay." Sunshine said, ushering Cecile out and shutting and locking the door behind her. He walked over and sat down on the toilet lid beside the bath. "How you doin', kiddo?"

"I…I…I have to wash it off of me." She sputtered. She was sobbing uncontrollably. Sunshine reached over and touched the water. It was freezing.

"Why don't we turn this up a little there, huh kiddo?" he said as he turned the warm water up, "Warm you up some?"

"I want him off of me! Get him off of me!" Kelly cried, thrashing around in the tub.

Sunshine reached in and caught her by both arms. "Kelly! Kelly! It's over! You're okay now. He can't hurt you!"

"I'm so sorry." Kelly went on, "I didn't mean to…"

"Hey!" Sunshine cut her off, "this was not your fault! It was all Ray. He's wired wrong in the head, baby, that's all."

Kelly looked him in the eyes, giving him a clear vision of all of the fear she was feeling. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him, her fingers biting into his shoulders she was holding him so hard.

"Don't leave me, please! Don't ever leave me!" she pleaded.

"Hey now," Sunshine said, his tone soft and calming as he stroked his hand over her head, "I'll never leave you. I'll always be right here."


	11. author's note pt 2

**Author's Note: **Sorry about the delay. I sort of wrote myself into a corner with that last chapter. I had no clear idea of where to go from there, but I think I've got it all worked out now, so bear with me a little while longer. We're almost to the end of the story. Just four, maybe five chapters to go! The next chapter will hopefully be posted by the end of the coming week, so keep checking, and don't forget to review it! Thanks to all my reviewers and don't give up on me.


	12. Go

**Author's Note: **Here's the long overdue next chapter. I apologize for the long wait but I had to clear my thoughts in my head and wrap my mind around an ending. I have it all worked out now, so just bear with me through the process. Don't forget to let me know what you think!

**Chapter Ten: Go**

Kelly wasn't sure what exactly had become of Ray that night. The only thing she did know was that he wound up in the hospital with no certain time as to when he would be out. As for Sunshine, well, despite what he had said to her in the bathroom that night, he was still together with Christi. If anything, he was even more terrified of Gerry. And Christi was...well, she was...there really weren't words to describe what Christi was...though Kelly could come up with more than a few choice ones.

The next few weeks went by in a kind of blur. The boys kept winning, Sunshine kept growing as the school hero, and Christi stayed right by his side as his little 'queen'.They were T.C.Williams's golden couple. Meanwhile, Kelly had spent most of her time trying to avoid the golden couple. She spent the rest of her time with Cecile trying to firgure out a way for her to let Rev know how she felt about him without getting him beaten to a pulp.

As far as her emotional status, it was, in a word, unstable. The fear that she had felt that night was one that she never wished to feel again. The helplessness of it all. The hopelessness. It hadn't mattered how she had tried to get away, Ray had been too strong. She had always thought of herself as a fairly tough, independent kind of girl, but in less than ten minutes, Ray had taken all of that away from her. She tried to hide her depression, going about her day to day as though she were all right. But it was getting harder to pretend that everything was fine. She flinched every time anyone came near her and she was so jumpy as of late. She found herself wishing day in and day out that she could just get over it. Sunshine had gotten to her before anything had happened, so she should have gotten over it by now, but she hadn't.

Then one day, it struck her like an epiphany. It wasn't the attack that she couldn't get over. It was Sunshine. She had been putting her feelings for him in a bottle and locking them away for so long, that they had started to gnaw away at her insides. She was losing who she was because she was hiding how she felt, which was not the sort of thing that she did. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she knew that she had to figure it out soon because this was going to kill her.

It took nearly a month and a half before Kelly started to even vaguely feel like her old self. Slowly but surely though, she started to smile more and laugh more and she had even stopped wincing whenever someone touched her. By the week of homecoming, she was practically good as new.

The Wednesday before the homecoming game and dance, Cecile and Kelly were walking home after school, locked arm in arm.

"Are you goin' to the dance?" Kelly asked without looking up from her feet.

"Yeah." Cecile nodded.

Kelly smiled, "With Rev?"

Even though she wasn't looking at her, Kelly knew that Cecile's cheeks had flushed to the color of an apple. "We're not going together," Cecile stated, "but we are meeting each other there."

"Will you dance with him?"

"If he asks me."

"He will."

"He might not."

"Rev isn't the kind of guy who'll let a bunch of closed minded fools intimidate him."

"You're right."

"I know." Kelly quipped, "I'm happy for you, by the way."

"I know you are." Cecile smiled, "Are you goin'?"

Kelly's smile faltered, "I don't know..."

"Come on, Kel. You gotta come. It won't be any fun without you and you know I'll be miserable if you're not there."

"Guilt trip!" Kelly laughed.

"Exactly! See, you have to come now otherwise it gives me cause to blame you for any of my future unhappiness."

"That doesn't seem fair."

"I'm sorry. Did I miss the bulletin that said life was supposed to be fair?" Cecile chimed.

"Okay. All right. I'll go!" Kelly practically yelled.

"Yay!" Cecile said, literally hopping up and down.

"You're mean." Kelly pouted, but she was fighting off a smile.

"And you love me!" Cecile said, grabbing Kelly by the chin and planting a big kiss on her cheek. They walked the rest of the way home with Cecile going into detail about the dress that she had bought specifically for the dance and Kelly assuring her over and over that she was sure that Rev would like it. She had to tell her that she was sure Rev would like her in anything that she wore.

The next day, Kelly hung around after school and watched from the bleachers as the guys practiced. They were looking so good. Sunshine really knew how to take command of a situation. She hadn't thought it possible, but every time she saw him play, he seemed to have improved in some way or another. When Gerry and Julius got together on that field, they were a force to reckoned with. Hell, Kelly knew that they were a force to be reckoned with off the field, as well. Kelly found herself smiling for no particular reason as she watched the Titans, her boys, execute play after play with an excellence most teams only ever strive for and never achieved.

Practice ended and after the pandemonium of helmet smashing, chest banging, and butt smacking had subsided the boys broke up and started to trot to the showers. Sunshine was halfway off the field when he spotted a familiar solitary form sitting in the bleachers. He glanced around him to see if Gerry was anywhere nearby and, not seeing him, made his way over to where Kelly sat.

"Well, hidy there, Sunshine." Kelly smiled as he moved to sit down beside her.

"How you doin', Kel?" he asked.

"Peachy keen, jellybean." she replied.

"Sounds good."

"Doesn't it, though?"she said, "You guys looked really great out there. They'll never know what hit 'em come Friday night."

"Yeah, I think we're pretty much gonna cream 'em." Sunshine grinned.

"Aren't we sure of ourselves?"

"Nah, just honest."

"Oh, is that right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess it's no large feet for the golden by quarterback."

"Yes, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Thank you. Autograph? Mine?"

"Don't let that head get too big. Your hair'll look funny."

The conversation was strained and felt forced between them and both of them knew it. There was too much there. Too much that needed to be said and hadn't been. There were really no words that would ever be enough for them. They had reached a point where they were beyond any stone or turn that conversation could have helped guide them through. With all that sitting between them, they just stared at each other in silence for what felt like forever until Kelly finally said, "God, I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

Sunshine nodded, his eyebrows drawing together. Something Kelly knew he did when he was feeling something that he didn't want to say. "I know what you mean." he said in a voice that sounded like he had something stuck in the back of his throat.

Kelly looked up at him, her eyes wide and her chin quivering. "Sunshine?" she said.

"Yeah?" Sunshine asked, unable to tear his eyes from her gorgeous face. He wanted to remember exactly how she looked at that moment. Her nose and cheeks had turned red from the cold and she had pulled her jacket tightly around her. Strands of her hair had come loose from her ponytail and were dancing in the breeze around her face and neck, one strand sticking to her moist lips.

"I...I miss you." She said so softly, he almost hadn't heard her.

He had never known Kelly to let her guard down and expose herself. She had never seemed more vulnerable than in that moment...or more beautiful. "I miss you, too."

Her eyes lit up, brighter than he'd seen them in a long time. "You do?"

Sunshine couldn't speak, so he just nodded. Without breaking the trance of their eye contact, her reached up and with one finger he pulled the strand of strawberry hair away from her mouth, dragging the tip across her cheek as he did so. Once it was out of the way, he wasn't able to stop himself from caressing the side of her face with the back of his hand. After doing that about five times, his hand slid around to cradle her neck just below her jaw line.

Kelly couldn't speak, couldn't think. She couldn't remember when their faces had gotten so close. All she knew was that Sunshine's lips were a mere breath away from her own and it felt as though he were drawing her to him. Her eyes slid closed as she braced herself for what was about to happen.

The moment, however, was broken by the sound of someone clearing their throat rather noisily. Sunshine and Kelly both looked over to see Christi standing at the bottom of the bleachers with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Sunshine, darling?" she called, her voice higher than usual. It was that phony high pitched tone that people use when they're trying to pretend that they're sweet and innocent when they're really big fat whores.

"Comin'." Sunshine called down to her.

Kelly's gaze dropped to her feet as she choked back a sob.

Sunshine turned back to her, "I have to..."

"It's okay." Kelly said looking up with a shaky smile on her face, but she looked near to tears. "Go." She said, her pretty eyes glistening.

"Kelly, I..."

"Sunshine." Kelly cut him off, her eyes closing as she shook her head slowly, begging him not to continue, "Go."

Sunshine stared at her for one more moment before standing rather abruptly and trotting down the bleachers. Kelly opened her eyes when she knew he was away from her, watching him meet Christi at the bottom of the bleachers. Christi was glaring up at her, but in all honesty, Kelly couldn't have cared less at the moment. She watched Sunshine walk away with Christi practically attached to his side and thought she might throw up. Her stomach churned and twisted at the image, but it was worse than it had ever been before. T.C.Williams's golden couple and Kelly would've like nothing more than to push half of that couple over a very tall cliff.

She took a minute to regain her composure before leaping off the bleachers and making her way home where she would more than likely crawl under tha covers and hide from the world. Cecile would drag her to that damn dance tomorrow night where she would be forced to watch Christi drag Sunshine around like some kind of trophy, so tonight she felt that she had earned the right to become a social recluse.


End file.
